Pregnant women with lower back tattoos who wish to have an epidural placed during labour pose a dilemma to anesthesiologists. Clear guidelines have not been established. We reviewed the epidural risks in pregnant women with low back tattoos and have suggested precautionary measures to minimise them. Given the limited information available, and in the absence of a clear evidence-based medical contraindication, an epidural technique should not be excluded in those women with a lower back tattoo.

Manufacturing today is marked by increased competition and dispersed global organization, thus necessitating enhanced collaboration among designers and manufacturers. Nevertheless, while Design for Manufacturability (DFM) has been the subject of in-depth research over the past decades, the supporting software solutions have not as yet matured. In this paper we present a holistic approach and supporting software tool, termed the Computer Aided Manufacturability Analysis (CAMA) tool, for capitalizing on available manufacturability knowledge. This is achieved by closing the knowledge loop between the design and manufacturing environments. CAMA captures the knowledge in a structured manner and incorporates this knowledge within the product design tools (CAD systems), thus enabling improved product timeliness and profitability. CAMA represents proof of concept and constitutes a demonstrative prototype of an adaptive and open DFX tool. It is based on industrial surveys of the Knowledge, Information and Data (KID) flows in CAD, CAPP and CAM processes within the manufacturing outsourcing environment. CAMA differs from other approaches in that it is an open system that enables continuous and intuitive capture, modification and implementation of updated manufacturability KID.

Considerable research and development efforts have been devoted to Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP). Nevertheless, because the CAPP problem is complex and is characterized by many interdependent technical and business parameters and variables, no viable off-the-shelf solution is yet available that can be easily or widely implemented in industry. This paper presents an overview of the CAPP field and describes a holistic component manufacturing process planning model based on an integrated approach combining technological and business considerations. The model was derived based on available literature, an overview of the state-of-the-art in Digital Manufacturing, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and CAPP solution providers, and a survey of Small Medium Enterprise (SME) manufacturers. This model will form the basis for developing improved decision support and knowledge management capabilities to enhance available CAPP solutions.